SHOT Show Day 3

My third day at the SHOT show was begun at Columbia River Knife and tool who always have a slew of the most creative products in the industry. Although they have fewer than last year, they are all spectacular. First there are KISS knives with assisted opening mechanism. What else would they be called than the KISS ASSist! They’ve refined them to make them harder to accidentally close and they work beautifully. There are 2 models from Flavio Ikoma, the inventor of the IKBS ball bearing opening system. One is a slightly ULU shaped small fixed blade with an easy to remove blade cover and the other is machined aluminum handle and the fast opening you would expect. There is a new economy folder designed by Ron Lake. Ken onion has designed a new series of fast flipper openers that I really liked. They have a slight resistance at the beginning of the opening flip and that causes them to really fly after that resistance is overcome. Brilliant feature IMHO.
Ken Onion’s skinner, which was offered in a limited edition last year will be available with a plastic handle as a regular item. Same great leather sheath and the same blade. A big, honking Ulu shaped blade with a creative cover is also due. There are a few shooting tools and the M-16 series will be available with an extended flipper that has a strap cutter on it as well as a glass breaker on the end of the handle. There will be some new, inexpensive fillet knives and a wooden knife kit designed by Glen Klecker. That’s the real news from day 3, but there will be more news coming soon.